SAUSD School Board election update

Things have been rather quiet in this year’s Santa Ana Unified School District Board elections. This year, as opposed to two years ago, there are only four candidates, including the two incumbents – John Palacio and Audre Yamagata-Noji. The challengers include myself, and a pastor/educator named Jeffrey K. Morris.

A new blog called the OC Democrats blog recently profiled Palacio. I think they did a pretty good job of summarizing his 12 years in office. He has done a good job, overall, and he has my endorsement.

The other incumbent, Yamagata-Noji, is another story altogether. She is so awful that her own political party, the Democratic Party of Orange County, did not endorse her this year. That should tell you all you need to know.

As I expected, the Santa Ana Educators Association, which is the local teachers’ union, endorsed the incumbents. I wrote about that on my campaign blog today. Click here to read that post. It is ridiculous that these hacks would endorse a Trustee who has fired hundreds of teachers and classified staff.

I laughed when I saw that Yamagata-Noji had a car in last week’s Fiestas Patrias parade. She can pander to Latinos as much as she wants to, but the people know that she has done nothing but give us lip service. Thousands of our students have dropped out or failed to pass the high school exit exam, on her watch.

If ever there was a year to finally be rid of Yamagata-Noji, it is this year. The voters are angry at incumbents in general. I have broad support from a coalition of parents, teachers, business owners and activists, including Democrats, Republicans, independents and the Green and Libertarian Parties. Click here to see a list of my endorsements.

I can use your help if you would like to join me in bringing change to the SAUSD. Click here to download my campaign flyer in English. Click here to download a double-sided flyer, in English and Spanish. Andclick here for my campaign flyer in Spanish. Help spread the word to your neighbors, friends and family here in the SAUSD.

I will be announcing a number of volunteer meetings this week, where we will pass out flyers and precinct lists. Stay tuned. Together we will bring change at last to the SAUSD!